1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a brake control device and a brake control method, and, more particularly, to a brake control device and a brake control method that control the braking force applied to the wheels provided on a motor vehicle.
2. Background of the Invention
A brake-by-wire system is described in, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Publication Nos. JP-A-2005-35471 and JP-A-2006-123889. The brake-by-wire system generates braking force through electronic control by detecting a driver's brake operation.
With the brake-by-wire system, there is a need to detect a driver's brake operation. In order to reliably generate braking force in response to a driver's request, the brake system must have additional fail-safe mechanisms to ensure that the operation of the brake pedal by the driver is appropriately detected. The brake system must also ensure that no braking force is generated when the brake pedal is not operated.